New Macs, new versions of Mac OS X, new software, and new school years all translate to one thing for Mac IT staff: determining the best way to roll out the new computers, software, classrooms, or configurations. Ryan Faas gives you an overview of the variety of tools available from Apple and third parties, and tells you how to roll out with less hassle and fewer headaches.

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Deployments are a part of life for IT staff, be they deployments of new
workstations, new applications or other configuration changes, or deployments of
whole new labs and networks. Those working in education often spend the days
before a school year or new college semester readying classrooms and computer
labs by doing computer cleanup and updates (essentially, wiping the hard drives
of workstations and then deploying a new system configuration onto them).
Unfortunately, deployments can either be hassle-free or riddled with headaches
without both proper planning and the proper tools. This article focuses on the
proper tools for Mac IT staff charged with planning and managing deployments and
rollouts.

There are a number of tools and methods that are, by this point, considered
tried and true, including the venerable Apple Software Restore in both network
and local disk variations (along with several GUI front ends to ease the
deployment process), Mac OS X Server’s NetInstall feature, Apple Remote
Desktop, and the open source Radmind utility. Also included are workstation
management tools such as FileWave and NetOctopus. We’ll look briefly at
each option, its methodology, and its pros and cons for various types of
deployments.

Apple Software Restore

Apple Software Restore (ASR) has been a tool for Mac administrators and
technicians for nearly 20 years. In Mac OS X, ASR is a command-line tool that is
part of every Mac OS X release. ASR uses disk images created with the Apple Disk
Utility (or a similar tool) as a source of target workstations. It can overwrite
an existing disk with a specified image. Because disk images contain a fully
configured system (Mac OS X, installed application, system configuration, and so
on), ASR allows you to quickly deploy read-to-use workstations. It is not,
however, a particularly good tool for applying software updates or rolling out a
single or limited amount of applications.

ASR can use a disk image stored on a local disk (such as a hard drive or
CD/DVD) as a source for deployments or it can use a disk image that is stored on
a server. Being a command-line application, it is possible to initiate ASR
operations remotely. However, because the target hard drive or partition will be
overwritten as part of the ASR process, workstations need to be started from an
alternate Mac OS X boot disk (typically an external hard drive or alternate
partition).

To use a disk image as a source for ASR, the image must first be
"scanned" with the ASR application. The scanning process optimizes the
image for use with ASR and can reorder portions of the image for faster copying.
Depending on the size of the image, this process might take some time.